No matter where you were born and raised, you could find your tea times taking on an increasingly British air. How do you tell if this is happening? Here are 5 signs that you’re “going British” at tea time:

1 Heightened Anticipation

You start to feel a heightened sense of anticipation as tea time draws near. It begins with a dryness in your mouth and throat and progresses to watching the clock at narrower and narrower intervals (every 10 minutes, every 8 minutes, every 5 minutes, etc.). And no matter what you’re doing when tea time comes, you stop. After all, what’s more important than tea?

2 Tea Preference Changes

Where you used to grab a bottled tea from the frig or settled for a quick cuppa made from the nearest low-grade teabag, now you settle for nothing less than a top British tea brand: Twinings, PG Tips, Typhoo, Fortnum & Mason, Harrisons & Crosfield, Barry’s Tea (Irish), Bewley’s Tea (Irish), Taylors of Harrogate, Lifeboat, Brooke Bond, etc.

3 Your Methodology Realigns

Your tea time meant steeping a quick cuppa by dunking that low-grade teabag in a mug of barely warm water. Now, everything halts while you heat water to a proper boil in a kettle, prepare the teapot by warming it with some hot water swished around and then poured out and then adding that British brand tea you are now preferring and letting it steep a full five minutes. And no mugs. You now find that only a fine china teacup with matching saucer will do.

4 Treats Are Now a Must

And not just any treats. No donuts here. No PB&J’s. No American-style biscuits or cookies or the new and improved Twinkie. It’s finger sandwiches, shortbread, crumpets, scones, clotted cream, fruit preserves, tarts, even sponge cakes.

5 You Tend to Have Tea in Groups

Rather than drinking that tea by yourself, you now see tea time as a more social occasion, one where you stop what you’re doing, take time not only to prepare the tea but sit down with other tea lovers and enjoy sipping, nibbling, chatting, laughing, relaxing, and unwinding from whatever tensions you’re experiencing. This is a key part of a true British tea time.

So how did you measure up?

Has your tea time “gone British”? If it has, good for you! If it hasn’t, what are you waiting for? Stop what you’re doing, go get some British brand tea, don’t forget the treats, and meet up with some friends and co-workers for a bit of cup lifting. Slurp!

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